RICHMOND — Among a sea of strollers and picket signs on the
grounds of the Virginia Capitol, hundreds of people demonstrated Feb. 7 against
abortion — and especially against Democratic proposals to ease restrictions on
late-term abortions.
Activists filled the landing of the Capitol steps, flooding down
the hill towards Bank Street. Signs declaring “Equal rights for pre-born
people” and other anti-abortion slogans poked out of the crowd as children
played and their parents watched.
The Commonwealth for Life: March on Richmond featured General
Assembly members, pro-life activists and representatives of Christian
organizations. Chris and Diana Shores organized the rally in just a week after
legislation sponsored by Del. Kathy Tran, D-Fairfax, came into the national
spotlight.
Questioned by a Republican about her bill, Tran said it
technically would allow a woman about to give birth to have an abortion. After
critics accused her of endorsing infanticide, Tran said she misspoke. However,
conservative commentators — including President Donald Trump in his State of
the Union address — slammed Tran, Gov. Ralph Northam and other Virginia
Democrats for supporting the measure.
Chris Shores said he and his wife have been in the political
arena for years. When news of Tran’s bill broke, they received a slew of calls
asking them what they were going to do about it.
“We threw up a Facebook post last week, and within 24 to 48
hours, we had hundreds of people interested in the post,” Shores said. “It was
truly organic.”
The rally was the first time the couple has put on an event of
this scale. Speakers included Republican Sens. Dick Black of Loudoun County and
Bill Stanley of Franklin County; Del. Nick Freitas, R-Culpeper; and E.W.
Jackson, a Protestant minister and lawyer who was the Republican nominee for
lieutenant governor in 2013.
While the event featured Republican figures and Christian
leaders, Chris Shores said the aim of the March on Richmond was outside party
and religious lines.
“I didn’t want this to become a Republican pep rally. That wasn’t
the point of the event,” he said.
A central theme to the event was denouncing Tran’s proposal, HB
2491. The bill was tabled by a subcommittee and is dead for this legislative
session.
Northam, a pediatric neurologist, came under fire from
anti-abortion groups after defending the bill on a radio show on Jan. 30.
Northam said third-trimester abortions are done “in cases where there may be
severe deformities. There may be a fetus that’s non-viable.”
In such instances, the governor said, “The infant would be
delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be
resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired, and then a
discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother.”
Jackson excoriated Northam for that comment.
“Anybody who is prepared to allow a child to die after that child
has been born alive does not deserve to be called a pediatrician,” Jackson
said. “He doesn’t deserve to be called a governor either.”
Other speeches at the rally criticized efforts in Virginia to
ratify the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Black, who has opposed abortion in the General Assembly for the
past 20 years, said the ERA would be a blow to the anti-abortion movement.
“The ERA is a method that the abortionists want to use,” he said.
“If that gets into the Constitution, we will not have any chance to roll back
abortion.”
After Trump mentioned the controversy over abortion in Virginia
in his nationally televised speech this week, Chris Shores hopes the
conversation doesn’t stop.
“We’re going to continue to mobilize and organize and call on
pro-life Virginia to stand up,” he said.
Felicia A. Pricenor, associate director of the Virginia Catholic
Conference, gave the closing prayer for the event.
“Today, let us commit ourselves, in our defense of the unborn, to
never be silent, never become passive, to become a voice for the voiceless,” she said. “And through our
efforts, may Virginia shine as a light to the nation, fighting for liberty and
justice, not just for some, but for every last person.”
